Electricity generation at one of the UK’s most productive nuclear power stations, Hunterston B, in North Ayrshire, is ending after almost 46 years.
Since the station came online in 1976 it has produced enough zero-carbon electricity to power every home in Scotland for nearly 31 years. The carbon avoided by the station, when compared to gas generation, is like taking every car off Scotland’s roads for 19 years.
zero-carbon electricity
Reactor 4 at the EDF-run site will be shut down by Station Director, Paul Forrest, at midday on 7 January 2022; 45 years, and 11 months after the station started producing electricity.
Station Director, Paul Forrest, said, “The contribution Hunterston B power station has made to this country cannot be underestimated. As well as providing stable, well-paid employment for thousands of people in the North Ayrshire area, it has produced almost 300TWh of zero-carbon electricity, enough to power every home in Scotland for 31 years."
defuel and decommission
We will pause to reflect on the end of the generation but we are looking forward to the future"
Paul Forrest adds, “It was originally thought Hunterston B would run for 25 years but investment in the plant and the people who work here mean we’ve been able to safely extend that to 46 years."
He continues, “This is an incredible achievement and everyone here is proud of what the station has accomplished. We will pause to reflect on the end of the generation but we are looking forward to the future. We don’t just switch off the power station, close the gates, and walk away. It will take time to defuel and decommission the site and we will continue to need skilled people to do this.”
Staff at Hunterston B
EDF has been consulting with staff about their futures for the past two years. The majority of staff indicated they would like to continue working at Hunterston B. Every member of staff who said they wanted to stay has been successful in securing a role through defueling.
Some staff has been supported to move to other EDF sites and some have opted to retire.
Grid synchronized
The station’s other unit, Reactor 3, was taken offline in November 2021. Its shutdown was carried out by the station’s experienced operations staff along with Howard Weetman who worked at the station for 23 years and was the control room supervisor on the day the power station first synchronized to the grid.
Howard, who still lives near the station, in West Kilbride, said, “To come back and actually see the reactor come off for the final time feels strange and slightly sad because it has been an extremely good engineering achievement. It has gone 46 years, so congratulations to everyone involved. It is a shame it has finished but it has done well.”
statutory outage
Both reactors will undergo a statutory outage to make sure they are ready for defueling. Defueling is when all the nuclear fuel is removed from the reactors and safely transported by rail to Sellafield for storage. It is expected that defueling at Hunterston B will take around three years.
Under the terms of a contract agreed with the UK Government in June 2021, EDF will carry out defueling at all seven of the UK’s Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) stations, before the sites are transferred to the NDA for its subsidiary Magnox to continue with decommissioning.